I propose that the idea of being an expert in a field is misunderstood. A dictionary will define it as skill and/or knowledge of a particular area. This is both inadequate as well as under attack in recent history. By the latter, I mean that the very notion that someone can be an expert has been dismissed or ridiculed in public discourse for decades. This could be an attack designed to undermine the legitimacy of actual knowledge and/or science or a critical look at expertise being used to discount complaints of target populations. That is not the content of this post-I propose to look at the former notion and offer a less-expressed addition to the thinking on the subject.
While expertise can be seen as ability to perform all aspects of a task or act with authority in a position, this does not cover enough of what it is. The capacity to not only guide actions during everyday operations, but to do so when things go awry is what I suggest. Most people, most of the time, can sit in a chair wearing a bathing suit and holding a whistle while watching people in a swimming pool. Some of them may even be able to spot a swimmer in trouble and blow the whistle. However, even if they could tell something was amiss, I do not think many would be able to spot a person drowning and take appropriate action to save a life-many would even drown trying to save another! So I ask if you would frequent a swimming pool where the lifeguard did not have adequate training-or entrust the life of your child to such a lifeguard.
Similarly, we can operate most of the time with shortcuts and half-attention to what we do. Usually "good enough" is good enough; we can 'get away' with adequate. However, this system relies on all other things being within particular tolerances. Only as long as the situation is operating smoothly can most people handle managing or guiding their actions and those of others. All that changes when the unexpected or disastrous occurs. Once a person in the water is drowning, we need trained and fit lifeguards on duty. This is where expertise comes into play. Finally, we reach the purpose to this post: why is this an important addition to the definition and our understanding? It is because we need folks in charge of things who have experience or knowledge of what to do when things go wrong, not just when things are going according to plan. We have too few of them around at the moment, and too little trust in those who are. We will pay an exorbitant price when the crisis comes because of this absence.
Posts
